A passenger aboard an India’s IndiGo aircraft in Lucknow had complained of mosquitoes in the cabin, which resulted in him getting offloaded, in the early hours of Monday.
The passenger, Dr Saurabh Rai, who identifies himself as a Bengaluru-based cardiologist, had entered the airplane at around 6:00 am, on a Monday morning and had confronted the crew about the mosquito problem on the flight. As per reports, the crew had asked Dr Rai to quietly take his seat.
The doctor troubled about the unresolved issue eventually landed in a squabble with the crew of IndiGo who later asked him to get down from the aircraft and return to the terminal all the way from the runway.
This episode had been the second in a row where the airline had come under negative light with another passenger getting manhandled by their crew a few months ago at the New Delhi airport.
Dr Rai had taken to social media to post the video about the airline staff manhandling him and even referring to him as a ‘terrorist.’ “They (the crew members) called me a terrorist and said that I was a threat to other passengers.”
In their defense the airline had also released a statement, saying: “Mr Saurabh Rai, who was scheduled to fly this morning on 6E-541 from Lucknow to Bangalore, was offloaded on grounds of unruly behaviour. Prior to take-off, Mr Rai expressed concerns regarding mosquitoes on board. However, before the cabin crew on board could address his concerns, Mr Rai aggressively expressed his annoyance and started to use threatening language. As the matter escalated after the closure of the aircraft doors, Mr Rai attempted to instigate other passengers on board to damage the aircraft, and used words such as ‘hijack’. Such actions are absolutely unacceptable.”
